Continuous feeder

ABSTRACT

The present invention is a continuous feeder which, through a power source, can continuously drive a fixing clip to move back and forth equidistantly and also a mobile clip at the top of the fixing clip, so that when the fixing clip arrives the return point, the material can be downwardly clipped or upwardly released for achieving a continuous feeding. The present invention not only can precisely adjust the moving distance of material in processing for continuously and accurately driving the material to the operation tool, but also can change the driving method for the material to be pull or push in response to the hardness degree of the material.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to a continuous feeder, and moreparticularly to a continuous feeder which can precisely drive thematerial to move to the operation tool for processing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Currently, the conventional feeders have two problems urgently to besolved: one is that the movement of the material to be processed can notbe driven precisely so that the problem of accumulated tolerance isalways existed, and the other is the method for feeding the material cannot be switched to be pull or push according to the property, such assoft or hard, of the material.

First, relating to the problem of accumulated tolerance, the reason isthat, currently, no matter the feeding material is pushed or pulled, theturning motive force is always employed. For the pulling method, arolling at the end is employed which may change the rolling speedcooperating with the variable factors (such as the rolled thicknessgenerated from rolling the material in each second) for controlling themoving distance of the material. Therefore, since the soft material iscontinuously rolled up, if each second has an error of 0.1 mm, an errorof 6 cm will be produced after 1 minute of rolling-up. As to the pushingmethod, since the pushing process is employed, the material must bethicker and have no concern in deformation, and thus, the material canbe pushed to the area of operation tool for processing. However, whenthe rolling shaft drives the material, an error of 5 cm will be producedafter moving the material for 5 m if each turn of the rolling shaft hasan error of 0.1 mm. Consequently, it is obvious that the conventionalfeeder has the problem of accumulated tolerance which is vary seriousfor the manufacturing industry.

The other problem which needs to be solved is that the conventionalfeeder can not change the feeding method to be pull or push according tothe hardness of material. Since the soft material can not be pushed tomove forward, it has to roll up the material at the end after processedso as to achieve the feeding. On the contrary, because the hard materialcan not be rolled up, it has to be pushed to the area of operation tool,and then, a falling caused by the gravity itself is employed to collectthe material. Therefore, the manufacturer can not use the feeder for thesoft material to deal the hard material and vice versa, so that thepurchase cost is significantly increased.

Consequently, a feeder which can solve the problems described above mayindeed contribute a lot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main purpose of the present invention is to solve the problemsdescribed above. According to the present invention, not only the movingdistance of material in processing can be precisely adjusted forcontinuously and accurately driving the material to the operation tool,but the method for driving the material also can be selected to be pullor push in response to the hardness degree of material.

According to the object described above, the present invention providesa continuous feeder used to precisely drive a material to an operationtool for processing includes a base having a push-forward rejectingelement and a push-backward rejecting element; a moving unit having afixing clip, which is driven by a motor to move back and forth on thebase; an operation unit having a mobile clip, which is fixed overheadthe fixing clip for downwardly clipping or upwardly releasing thematerial; and a brake unit having a wrench element, which is collided bythe push-forward rejecting element and the push-backward rejectingelement so as to generate a connecting rod operation for pressing theoperation unit to move upwardly and downwardly, wherein through themotor continuously driving the fixing clip to move back and forthequidistantly and driving the mobile clip at the top of the fixing clip,the material can be downwardly clipped or upwardly released when thefixing clip arrives the return point, so as to achieve a continuousfeeding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a lateral view showing a continuous feeder according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial front view showing a continuous feeder according tothe present invention;

FIGS. 3A˜3D are lateral views showing a first kind of operations of thecontinuous feeder in a first embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 4A˜4D are lateral views showing a second kind of operations of thecontinuous feeder in a first embodiment according to the presentinvention;

FIGS. 5A˜5D are lateral views showing the adjusting operations ofmovement in a first embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a lateral view showing the continuous feeder in a secondembodiment according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIGS. 1˜2, which are respectively a lateral view and apartial front view showing a continuous feeder according to the presentinvention, and FIGS. 3A˜3D, which are lateral views showing a first kindof operations of the continuous feeder in a first embodiment accordingto the present invention. As shown, the continuous feeder of the presentinvention includes a base 1, which has a seat 10 having an adjustingshaft 20 thereon with a sliding track 11 at the top of the shaft,wherein the adjusting shaft 20 has a reverse thread region 201 and anobverse thread region 202 which respectively have, mounted thereon, apush-forward rejecting element 22 and a push-backward rejecting element23 overhead the seat 10, so that through turning an adjusting knob 21 atthe front end of the adjusting shaft 20, the push-forward rejectingelement 22 and the push-backward rejecting element 23 can reversely movesynchronously; a moving unit 3, which has a driving seat 30 having apivot 31, wherein the pivot 31 has, mounted thereon, a push shaft 81whose another end is connected to an adjusting hole 801 of a cam disc 80by a pin-jointed axis 802, so that the cam disc 80 can rotate throughbeing driven by a motor 90, and a fixing clip 40 with a side plate 50respectively mounted at two sides thereof is fixedly connected to thetop of the driving seat 30, wherein the side plates 50 respectively havean operating space 52 and at least one sliding seat 51, which isinstalled in the sliding track 11, fixedly mounted thereunder, so that amotor 90 continuously drives the moving unit 3 to slide back and forthon the sliding track 11 of the base 1, in which the motor is a servermotor on the cam disc 80, or a mutual power source with operation toolA; a brake unit 6 having a wrench element 61 pivotally connected to theside plate 50 through a central pivot 611, wherein one end of the wrenchelement 61 can have a swing after collided by the push-forward rejectingelement 22 and the push-backward rejecting element 23 and the other endis pivotally connected to a connecting shaft 62, the other end of theconnecting shaft 62 is connected to a swing shaft 63 through a pivot621, the other end of the swing shaft 63 is pivoted on the side plate 50through a pivot 631 and a cam 64, the cam 64 has at least one convexsurface 641 and at least one concave surface 642, a lever 65 ispivotally positioned on the side plate 50 through a central pivot 651,and on one end of the lever 65, a sliding axle 652 is mounted which candrive the cam 64 to slide from the convex surface 641 to the concavesurface 642 or from the concave surface 642 to the convex surface 641when the swing shaft 63 swings, so as to upwardly and downwardly move anoperating shaft 653 at the other end of the lever 65; and an operatingunit 7 having a transmission shaft 66, which has a force-suffering end661 mounted at the top thereof for suffering the pressure from theoperating shaft 653 so as to move upwardly and downwardly, has a balanceblock 67 fixedly connected at the bottom thereof, wherein a flexibleelement 53 for providing recovery is connected at the bottom of thebalance block 67 and is fixedly mounted on the side plate 50 through thebottom thereof and the balance block 67 has a mobile clip 70 located atthe top of the fixing clip 40 for downwardly clipping or upwardlyreleasing the material a; wherein the side plate 50 has an operatingspace 52 thereon, whose two sides have a track 522 for sliding therein agroove 671, which is oppositely mounted at two sides of the balanceblock 67, and whose top has a through hole 521 mounted thereon forstably moving the transmission shaft 66 upwardly and downwardly, so thatthrough the motor 90 continuously driving the fixing clip 40 to moveback and forth equidistantly and driving the mobile clip 70 at the topof the fixing clip 40, the material can be downwardly clipped orupwardly released after the wrench element 61 collides with thepush-forward rejecting element 22 or the push-backward rejecting element23, for continuously feeding, precisely driving the movement of thematerial a in processing, and continuously and accurately driving thematerial a to move to the operation toll A for processing.

Further, please refer to FIGS. 3A˜3D, which are lateral views showing afirst kind of operations of the continuous feeder in a first embodimentaccording to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the motor90 constantly rotates, the cam disc 80 is driven to rotate, and at thistime, the push shaft 81, which is pivotally connected on the adjustinghole 801 of the cam disc 80, can reject and push the driving seat 30.However, since the fixing clip 40 is fixedly connected at the top of thedriving seat 30, the side plate 50 is mounted at two sides of the fixingclip 40, at least one sliding seat 51 is respectively mounted at thebottom of the side plates 50, and the sliding seats 51 are slid in thesliding track 11, the moving unit 3, the brake unit 6 and the operatingunit 7 above the sliding track 11 are in a moving state and the mobileclip 70 at the top of the fixing clip 40 does not downwardly clip thematerial a. When the motor constantly rotates and moves to the positionas shown in FIG. 3B, the wrench element 61 is collided by thepush-backward rejecting element 23 to swing, so that the connectingshaft 62 moves upwardly to upwardly swing the swing shaft 63 and rotatethe cam 64 to the convex surface 641 to reject the sliding axle 652 ofthe lever 65. Then, the operating shaft 653 of the lever 65 movesdownwardly to press the force-suffering end 611 at the top of thetransmission shaft 66 for downwardly move the mobile clip 70, which isfixedly mounted on the balance block 67, so as to tightly clip thematerial a together with the fixing clip 40. When the motor constantlyrotates and moves to the position as shown in FIG. 3C, the mobile clip70 and the fixing clip 40 can drive the material a by a pulling methodfor the soft material to the position as shown in FIG. 3D, and then, thewrench element 61 collides with the push-forward rejecting element 22 togenerate swing for downwardly moving the connecting shaft 62. At thistime, the swing shaft 63 downwardly swings to rotate the cam 64, so thatthe balance block 67 at the bottom of the transmission shaft 66 suffersthe recovery from the flexible element 53 under the balance block 67 soas to upwardly reject the balance block 67, and then, theforce-suffering end 661 of the transmission shaft 66 rejects and pushesthe operating shaft 653 to slide the lever 65 into the concave surface642. Therefore, the mobile clip 70, which is fixedly mounted on thebalance block 67, is upwardly moved to release the material a, and then,if the motor 90 continuously rotates, the material a can be constantlydriven in a pull manner, as shown in FIGS. 3A˜3D, so as to be preciselyand continuously moved to the operation tool A for processing.

Further, please refer to FIGS. 4A˜4D, which are lateral views showing asecond kind of operations of the continuous feeder in a first embodimentaccording to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4A, therelationship of the cam 64 and the swing shaft 63 is opposite to that inFIG. 3A. When the motor 90 constantly rotates, the cam disc 80 is drivento rotate, and at this time, the push shaft 81, which is pivotallyconnected on the adjusting hole 801 of the cam disc 80, can reject andpush the driving seat 30. However, since the fixing clip 40 is fixedlyconnected at the top of the driving seat 30, the side plate 50 ismounted at two sides of the fixing clip 40, at least one sliding seat 51is respectively mounted at the bottom of the side plates 50, and thesliding seats 51 are slid in the sliding track 11, the moving unit 3,the brake unit 6 and the operating unit 7 above the sliding track 11 arein a moving state, so that the wrench element 61 collides with thepush-forward rejecting element 22 to generate swing for downwardlymoving the connecting shaft 62. At this time, the swing shaft 63downwardly swings to rotate the cam 64 to the convex surface 641 forrejecting the sliding shaft 652 of the lever 65, so that the operatingshaft 653 of the lever 65 is downwardly moved to press theforce-suffering end 661 of the transmission shaft 66. Therefore, themobile clip 70, which is fixedly mounted on the balance block 67, isupwardly moved to release the material b. Since the motor constantlyrotates and moves to the position as shown in FIG. 4B, the mobile clip70 and the fixing clip 40 can drive the material b by a pushing methodfor the hard material. When the motor constantly rotates and moves tothe position as shown in FIG. 4C, the wrench element 61 collides withthe push-backward rejecting element 23 to generate swing for upwardlymoving the connecting shaft 62 so as to upwardly swing the swing shaft63, so that the balance block 67 at the bottom of the transmission shaft66 suffers the recovery from the flexible element 53 under the balanceblock 67 so as to upwardly reject the balance block 67, and then, theforce-suffering end 661 of the transmission shaft 66 rejects and pushesthe operating shaft 653 to slide the lever 65 into the concave surface642. Therefore, the mobile clip 70, which is fixedly mounted on thebalance block 67, is upwardly moved to release the material b, which istherefore precisely and continuously moved to the operation tool B forprocessing. Then, since the motor 90 continuously rotates, the mobileclip 70 and the fixing clip 40 in the state of releasing the material bis moved to the position as shown in FIG. 4D, and if the motor 90constantly rotates, as shown in FIGS. 4A˜4D, the material b can beconstantly driven in a push manner so as to be precisely andcontinuously moved to the operation tool B for processing.

It should be noticed that, as clearly shown in FIGS. 3A˜3D and FIGS.4A˜4D, the present invention not only can precisely drive the movementof the materials a, b in the processing, but also can continuously andaccurately drive the materials a, b to the operation tools A, B forprocessing, and further, according to the hardness degrees of thematerials a, b, the pulling or pushing method can be selected to drivethe movement.

Furthermore, please refer to FIGS. 5A˜5D, which are lateral viewsshowing the adjusting operations of movement in a first embodimentaccording to the present invention. First, the push shaft 81 on theadjusting hole 801 of the cam disc 80 is moved to the center of the camdisc 80. Then, the adjusting knob 21 at the front end of the adjustingshaft 20 is clockwise turned, and at this time, since the adjustingshaft 20 has a reverse thread region 201 and an observe thread region202 thereon which respectively have, mounted thereon, a push-forwardrejecting element 22 and a push-backward rejecting element 23 overheadthe seat 10, the push-forward rejecting element 22 is moved forwardlyand the push-backward rejecting element 23 is moved backwardly (they arereversely moved at the same time), so as to precisely adjust themovement of the material (not shown) in processing and to continuouslyand accurately drive the material (not shown) to the operation tool forprocessing.

Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a lateral view showing the continuousfeeder in a second embodiment according to the present invention. Asshown, the difference between FIG. 6 and the previous figures is that,between the cam disc 80 and the motor 90, a belt 803 can be used forconnection and driving.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present invention have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of thestructure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrativeonly, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape,size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention tothe full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms inwhich the appended claims are expressed.

1. A continuous feeder used to precisely drive a material to anoperation tool for processing, comprising: a base, having a push-forwardrejecting element and a push-backward rejecting element; a moving unit,having a fixing clip, which is driven by a motor to move back and forthon the base; an operation unit, having a mobile clip, which is fixedoverhead the fixing clip for downwardly clipping or upwardly releasingthe material; and a brake unit, having a wrench element, which iscollided by the push-forward rejecting element and the push-backwardrejecting element so as to generate a connecting rod operation forpressing the operation unit to move upwardly and downwardly, whereinthrough the motor continuously driving the fixing clip to move back andforth equidistantly and driving the mobile clip at the top of the fixingclip, the material is downwardly clipped or upwardly released after thewrench element collides with the push-forward rejecting element or thepush-backward rejecting element, so as to achieve a continuous feeding.2. The continuous feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has aseat having an adjusting shaft thereon, and the adjusting shaft has areverse thread region and an obverse thread region which respectivelyhave, mounted thereon, the push-forward rejecting element and thepush-backward rejecting element overhead the seat, so that throughturning an adjusting knob at the front end of the adjusting shaft, thepush-forward rejecting element and the push-backward rejecting elementare capable of moving reversely and synchronously, and the seat furtherhas a sliding track mounted thereon.
 3. The continuous feeder as claimedin claim 2, wherein the moving unit has a driving seat, the driving seathas a pivot, the pivot has, mounted thereon, a push shaft whose anotherend is pivotally connected to an adjusting hole of a cam disc, so thatthe cam disc rotates through being driven by a motor, the fixing clipwith a side plate respectively mounted at two sides thereof is fixedlyconnected to the top of the driving seat, the side plates respectivelyhave an operating space and at least one sliding seat fixedly mountedthereunder, and the sliding seat is installed in the sliding track forsliding thereon.
 4. The continuous feeder as claimed in claim 3, whereinthe wrench element of the brake unit is pivotally connected to the sideplate through a central pivot, one end of the wrench element has a swingafter collided by the push-forward rejecting element and thepush-backward rejecting element and the other end is pivotally connectedto a connecting shaft, the other end of the connecting shaft isconnected to a swing shaft through a pivot, the other end of the swingshaft is pivoted on the side plate through a pivot and a cam, the camhas at least one convex surface and at least one concave surface, alever is pivotally positioned on the side plate through a central pivot,a sliding axle is mounted on one end of the lever for sliding from theconvex surface to the concave surface or from the concave surface to theconvex surface when the swing shaft swings to drive the cam, so as toupwardly and downwardly move an operating shaft at the other end of thelever.
 5. The continuous feeder as claimed in claim 4, wherein theoperation unit has a transmission shaft, the transmission shaft has aforce-suffering end mounted at the top thereof for suffering thepressure from the operating shaft so as to move upwardly and downwardly,a balance block is fixedly connected at the bottom of the transmissionshaft, a flexible element for providing recovery is connected at thebottom of the balance block, the side plate is fixedly mounted at thebottom of the flexible element, and the balance block is fixedly mountedat the top of a mobile clip.
 6. The continuous feeder as claimed inclaim 5, wherein the side plate has an operating space thereon, whosetwo sides have a track for sliding therein a groove, which is oppositelymounted at two sides of the balance block, and whose top has a throughhole mounted thereon for stably moving the transmission shaft upwardlyand downwardly.
 7. The continuous feeder as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe motor is a server motor directly mounted on the cam disc.
 8. Thecontinuous feeder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motor is the powersource for the operation tool.
 9. The continuous feeder as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the cam disc and the motor are connected through abelt.